Dear Treetops Families,
It’s been another busy week at Treetops, and we’ve been fortunate to have warm sunny days, the occasional afternoon or evening rain shower, and a cooling breeze: the perfect combination for the plethora of outdoor activities on and off campus, from our waterfront to many Adirondack trails and peaks. During week two, our campers have settled into routines and friendships, finding their favorite activity areas, and gaining the confidence to embrace adventure, as they’ve challenged themselves on overnights, at the climbing Crag, or simply while trying something new.
The week kicked off with a sleep-in Sunday, pancake breakfast, a morning tending to laundry, showers, and letter writing, followed by an afternoon of Capture the Flag, and a hotdog dinner before roasting marshmallows for s’mores, a campfire favorite!
Monday brought our first Community Day, a time focused on working together in the garden, bringing to life our “Many hands make light work” motto. Garden jobs included lots and lots of weeding of our vegetable rows, flower gardens, and cultivated raspberry patch, and picking potato bugs off the potato plants. It’s incredibly powerful to see how much we can get done when we all work together toward a common goal.
On Monday evening, we were finally able to have our long-awaited Junior Camp paper hat parade over the hill to Senior Camp. Along the way, they were met with cheers and high fives from their Senior Camp friends as they crested the hill and headed down to the bonfire, where they sent their hats off to a celebratory and fiery end! We all sat on the Lake Hill and watched the sun set while singing our favorite Camp songs together.
In the various shops this week, campers continued to build their skills, as they worked on and finished colorful weavings, learned new watercolor techniques, started knitting projects, and put finishing touches on ceramics and woodshop designs. In the Senior Camp woodshop, our Supers began a long-awaited and favorite project: crafting their own canoe paddle by hand. Campers also continued to improve their skills on horseback, on the climbing wall, and on Round Lake.
More and more campers also participated in trips this past week. Groups ventured out on various hiking outings up some of our taller peaks in the region, the Adirondack 46ers, as well as some smaller peaks; there were visits to our very own on-campus rock climbing Crag, a swim trip; and a few paddling trips to beautiful local lakes. This week also brought the campers’ first overnight trips. For our Junior Campers, their trek was short, to an on-campus cabin, lean-to, or camping spot, an exercise to help them learn the routines of preparing for a trip into the wilderness, including packing, and cooking meals over a cookstove. Our Senior Campers ventured farther afield and were able to scale some High Peaks or paddle many miles before relaxing at their respective campsites and resting their heads for the night.
This week, our Super seniors also embarked on the Super overnights, which included a hike up Balanced Rocks and enjoying the spectacular view of campus from above. Our oldest campers also read letters from past Super campers, offering advice for how best to take advantage of their final summer at Treetops. As these Supers continue to develop as role models and mentors for the younger campers, they will set goals for their remaining weeks at Camp that are likely to include offering activities and heading tables in Junior Camp’s dining room, designing and completing a Super project that will directly benefit the Treetops community, planning and co-leading a Junior Camp trip, and embarking on the most challenging off-campus trip we offer: the five-day. As we watch our Supers grow into these leadership roles, we see them exhibiting characteristics of generosity, empathy, and kindness. And it is often quite simple to see a future for them in four or five years, when many may return to the Treetops campus as counselors.
“‘Round we go ‘round in the same sweet circle,” is a refrain from a favorite Camp song, “Adirondack Blue,” and as we continue our timeless tradition of a Treetops summer, I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to watch your children learn, grow, build skills, and form friendships, just as many of you did as children at Treetops. The beauty of watching our incredible counselors—many of whom I’ve known since they were Junior Campers—nurture our campers, sharing their love of nature, the importance of caring for our animals, our land, and one another, and even teaching the skills they once learned here themselves, is never lost on me. Like the song says: ‘Round we go ‘round in the same sweet circle. What a privilege it is!
With gratitude,
Hannah Edwards
Camp Treetops Director